US Embassy denies bombing refugee camp in Pakistan

Islamabad: The US Embassy in Pakistan on Thursday dismissed a claim by Islamabad that US forces bombed a refugee camp on its territory.

On Wednesday, two alleged members of the Haqqani network, which is affiliated to the Afghan Taliban, died in a drone attack in the tribal areas of the country.

“The claim in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement that US forces struck an Afghan refugee camp in Kurram Agency is false,” US spokesperson Richard Snelsire told Dawn online.

Snelsire did not confirm or deny whether the US Army had carried out a drone attack in the tribal area of northwestern Pakistan.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned what it called a drone attack on a camp for Afghan refugees in Kurram Agency and directly blamed it on NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.

Islamabad said that “such unilateral actions, as that of today, are detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism”.

Local sources told the daily on Wednesday that the strike was carried out on a Haqqani network hideout. A police officer confirmed the death of Haqqani network commander Ehsan alias Khawari along with his two associates.

The US and Afghanistan for years have accused Pakistan of providing refuge to the Haqqani network, a claim that Islamabad denies.

On January 4, Washington suspended its coalition support funds programme to Pakistan until Islamabad takes decisive steps in the fight against terrorism.

The announcement came after US President Donald Trump in his first tweet of 2018 accused Islamabad of “lies and deceit” and “giving safe haven to the terrorists”.